Archives for August 2007
August 31st, 2007
As the tiny Valencian village of Buñol erupts into its annual Tomatina festival, revellers seek somewhere to stay. Despite being located less than 40km from Valencia city, Buñol is one of the region’s quietest inland villages, where the only life that stirs on an average afternoon are a few old ...
Continue reading Property Owners Benefit In Buñol
August 30th, 2007
Have you recently moved to Spain? If so, have you reviewed your financial planning to take your new circumstances into account? Your saving and investment structures should be specifically chosen to suit with your current circumstances and aims for your future. Now that your situation has changed, ...
Continue reading Reviewing your financial planning on arrival in Spain
August 29th, 2007
Grand townhouses in Majorca’s capital are being restored as holiday homes. With a name that loosely translates as ‘little palace’, Fernando Palazuelo is made for his job. Having renovated 62 buildings in Barcelona’s old town in the 1980s before it was fashionable, the Spanish developer moved on to converting palacios ...
Continue reading A Palace revolution in historic Palma
August 28th, 2007
An estimated 1 million Brits now live in Spain – and after decades of Little England mentality, there are signs that the expatriates are integrating at last into the Spanish way of life. Graham Forster may have come to Spain partly in search of the sun, but sea and sand can’t ...
Continue reading Estimated 1 million Brits now living in Spain
August 27th, 2007
A politically charged building scandal has tainted Marbella’s reputation. Now the new mayor is spearheading a legal clean-up – but some British owners may still lose out. It was the Spanish playboy Prince Alfonso von Hohenlohe who put Marbella on the map in the 1950s, when he founded the swanky Marbella ...
Continue reading Costa del comeback
August 24th, 2007
Increasing numbers of Britons are looking into investing in an Overseas Property as the process of retiring to the sun has become ‘easier, cheaper and more attractive’, it has been reported. According to the Property Investment service provider for the over-50s, Saga Overseas Homes, Spain remains the number one choice for ...
Continue reading Investment in Spain 'easier than ever'
August 23rd, 2007
AIM-listed Spanish agent Medsea Estates saw its value fall by 25% within hours of recent press headlines about a ‘nosedive’ in the Spanish stock market. Founder Tony Gatehouse - who spent six months with auditors to show clients it was properly regulated - said he had to hire a top PR ...
Continue reading Medsea Pitches Positives to Rescue Share Decline
August 22nd, 2007
Every year, hundreds of thousands of Britons pack their bags and go to live in sunnier climes. James Salmon explains how upping sticks permanently will affect your savings, pensions and tax. There are two crucial things to consider when you move abroad: residency and domicile. Generally, when you move to ...
Continue reading Moving abroad: Pensions, tax and savings
August 21st, 2007
In today’s world of financial planning, increasing wealth and reduced financial confidentiality, more people than ever, including expatriates living in Spain, are setting up trusts to preserve the value of their assets and lower tax liability. If you are not sure whether you and your family can benefit from a ...
Continue reading A Question of Trust
August 20th, 2007
All the statistics available paint a picture of a soft landing in progress, in which Spanish property price rises are converging slowly on the general inflation rate. However, anecdotal evidence from property professionals suggests that the market is much weaker than the figures suggest, at least in some areas, and ...
Continue reading Spanish property market Q2 2007
August 20th, 2007
Bank calls a halt to applications from foreign buyers after broker is arrested. Spain’s largest non-resident mortgage provider, Caja de Ahorros del Mediterraneo, has instructed brokers to refuse applications to foreign buyers following a raid on the office of a mortgage broker based on Spain’s Costa Blanca. The proprietor was arrested on ...
Continue reading Spanish Bank Refuses Foreign Loans
August 17th, 2007
OPP asked Andree Frieze, editor of Homes & Holidays, Sunday Mirror about her views on Spain Is the media to blame for buyers losing confidence in Spain? No, I think on the whole it’s been reported fairly, although the media does always like a ‘disaster’ banner headline where they can. Is anyone else ...
Continue reading Sunday Mirror on Spain
August 16th, 2007
Eco-friendly British property buyers head to Spain as Seville becomes the country’s most cycle-friendly city. If a greener future is one of your priorities, that fact that Seville is set to become the Spanish city with the most bikes for rent will make it an appealing place to buy or rent. ...
Continue reading Seville Appeals To Cycling Expats
August 14th, 2007
Property buyers who’ve retreated to peaceful Zamora may find their home dramatically increasing in value. The Castilla y Leon region is known for many things, but a gold rush isn’t one of them - until now, that is. Zamora city and the province around it are largely ignored by expat ...
Continue reading Gold In Them Thar Spanish Hills
August 13th, 2007
A number of surveys over the last few months indicate a rising trend toward retirement overseas. Over half of Brits plan to retire overseas. A customer survey compiled by Insure4Retirement.co.uk indicates that over half of all Britons hope to retire abroad. The telephone survey, conducted between October 2006 and ...
Continue reading Trends in Overseas Retirement
